The Auditor-General told the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries on Tuesday that the Robben Island Museum remains a concern within the entities of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
The committee heard that the Museum’s audit committee hardly ever sits, and that the entity received a qualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General.
The Auditor-General attended the meeting to brief the committee on the Department of Sport, Art and Culture’s audit outcomes for the year.
Audit Executive Ms Uviwe Plaatjie Ruxwana said although there was potential for 41% of the entities in the department’s portfolio to move towards clean audit in the following audit period, the Museum still required attention.
“There are instances where some of the entities relied on the audit to identify material misstatements and for corrections to be made. As we have noted, about 69% of the entities were able to then submit financial statements and performance reports that were free from material misstatements,” Ms Ruxwana said.
The material findings on performance reports mainly related to the National Heritage Council, the Performing Arts Council of the Free State, Boxing SA, the National Film and Video Foundation and Robben Island Museum, Ms Ruxwana said. Material findings on procurement and contract management mainly related to non-compliance with supply chain management prescripts, which slightly improved, decreasing from 10 entities in the prior year to seven entities in the current year.
“And our observations on the infrastructure, we have noted prolonged delays in the implementation of projects, and this does expose the department to cost escalations, inflation-related increases. And the delays can also lead to infrastructure budgets being reprioritised to fund operational expenditure, thereby reducing the department’s ability to achieve its planned infrastructure objectives,” she explained.
The Auditor-General recommended that the department strengthens monitoring and collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. “The potential is definitely there, and will also work together with some of these entities just to make sure that they do move into improved audit status,” Ms Ruxwana said.
The Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture sent his apologies for not attending the meeting.
The committee Chairperson, Mr Makhi Feni, was unhappy about this as the committee’s programme was available for the department to consult three months before the meeting was scheduled to take place. The Deputy Minister and the Director-General also failed to appear and thus the meeting was adjourned early.
“We cannot proceed if there is no political or administrative leadership. This on its own shows some serious lack of taking accountability seriously. We can’t proceed as some of the issues highlighted in the presentation are political issues,” Mr Feni said.
Members unanimously resolved to adjourn the meeting without interrogating the Auditor-General’s briefing report, due to the absence of departmental leadership to answer the committee’s questions.
Sibongile Maputi
27 October 2026
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